Determination of Benzotriazole Corrosion Inhibitors from Aqueous Environmental Samples by Liquid Chromatography-Electrospray Ionization-Tandem Mass Spectrometry

Abstract

The first method for the determination of commonly used corrosion inhibitors in environmental water samples by liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization-tandem mass spectrometry is presented. Benzotriazole (BTri) and the two isomers of tolyltriazole (5- and 4-TTri) are separated in an isocratic run. By gradient elution, BTri, 4-TTri, 5-TTri, and xylyltriazole can be determined simultaneously with three benzothiazoles, but here TTri isomers coelute. The instrumental detection limit of 2 pg allows the determination of the three most important benzotriazoles from municipal wastewater and most surface waters by direct injection into the HPLC system without previous enrichment. When solid-phase extraction is employed with mean recovery rates of 95-113%, the limit of quantification for benzotriazoles range from 10 ng/L in groundwater to 25 ng/L in untreated wastewater. BTri and TTri were determined in municipal wastewater in microgram per liter concentrations. Elimination in wastewater treatment appears to be poor, and BTri and TTri can be followed through a water cycle from treated municipal wastewater through surface water to bank filtrate used for drinking water production. The TTri isomers show markedly different biodegradation behavior with 4-TTri being more stable.

Biodegradation of three selected benzotriazoles under aerobic and anaerobic conditions

“…Removal efficiencies in conventional WWTPs have been reported to be in the ranges of 13e62% for BT and 11e74% for 5-TTri (Hollingsworth et al, 2005;Giger et al, 2006;Voutsa et al, 2006;Weiss et al, 2006), with no published data available for CBT. Benzotriazole has been detected in surface water at concentrations up to 3.4 mg/L (Breedveld et al, 2003;Weiss and Reemtsma, 2005;Giger et al, 2006;Reemtsma et al, 2006;Voutsa et al, 2006;Weiss et al, 2006;Kiss and Fries, 2009), in sediment and sludge at concentrations up to 198 ng/g (Zhang et al, 2011). Much higher concentrations of up to 126 mg/L for BT and 17 mg/L for 5-TTri have been found in groundwater from airport locations due to its heavy use as an antifogging agent (Cancilla et al, 1998(Cancilla et al, , 2003.…”

Kinetics modeling and reaction mechanism of ferrate(VI) oxidation of benzotriazoles

“…BTs have been incompletely removed in conventional wastewater treatment plants due to their resistance to biodegradation (Weiss and Reemtsma, 2005;Weiss et al, 2006;Giger et al, 2006). Due to their incomplete removal and discharge of effluents, BTs have been reported in various aquatic environments.…”

“…Due to their incomplete removal and discharge of effluents, BTs have been reported in various aquatic environments. The concentration levels of BTs ranged from 0.01 to 0.2 mg/L in drinking water samples (van Leerdam et al, 2009) and between 0.1 and 6.3 mg/L in surface waters (Giger et al, 2006) as well as 0.8e18 mg/L in effluents of sewage treatment plants (Weiss and Reemtsma, 2005;Weiss et al, 2006;Reemtsma et al, 2010). 1H-Benzotriazole (BT) has been listed as one of the most widely detected polar organic pollutants in European surface water and ground water during pan-European reconnaissance (Loos et al, 2009(Loos et al, , 2010.…”

Photolysis of benzotriazole and formation of its polymerised photoproducts in aqueous solutions under UV irradiation

“…[2] Discharge from municipal wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) is a major pathway of BT entering the environment. BT has been detected in treated sewage effluents, [1,3,4] surface water, [5][6][7] and ground water [8,9] due to its high usage, relatively high mobility and persistence. [9,10] Moderate removal rates of BT in conventional WWTP processes have been attributed to its resistance to biodegradation.…”